Solitary
by Brallie4Never
Summary: A different take on 2x01


_Can this day get any worse?_ Callie thinks bitterly to herself as she sits in the dark and cramped 'bedroom' in Helen's home. First, her adoption was denied because of some random guy named Robert Quinn and now she's in yet another foster home with a woman named Helen. And to top everything off, she's currently locked in the room with the windows boarded.

She sniffs and fiddles with her phone, debating on whether or not to call Stef. She said to call if there's an emergency or if she just wants to talk, but Callie doesn't want to bother her and she wouldn't exactly say that this is an emergency. Sure, the locked doors have her thinking of juvie, but she's not actually in juvie. Well...kinda.

At least Helen hasn't hit her yet. The food was cold and made with no effort, and she's definitely not the warmest or most loving woman, but she hasn't hurt Callie yet...physically, that is.

Callie's mind drifts back to home. It's only 8:30. Right now, she and her family would be playing a board game because that's what they do every Friday. Maybe they are playing a game. She just hopes it's not Monopoly. Mariana and Stef always argue about the amount of money. Leave it to the math genius and the cop to get into it over how much money a building costs.

The teen shuffles awkwardly on the bed as her bladder screams at her for relief. She's had to pee for the last 45 minutes. She spent over 10 minutes pounding on the wall to wake Helen to come unlock the door. So much for being a light sleeper.

Her eyes are redirected to her phone when it lights up with a notification from Stef. She opens it and skims over the words.

'_I'm on my way to come get you, bug. I love you so much.'_

Callie feels her eyes tearing up as she reads. Mom is on her way. Everything's going to be alright soon because mom is on her way to get her out of here. She looks at the boarded windows, wishing that she could see outside and watch for her mom's car. She hates it. It's dark and it's cramped and she can't see anything because it's "too late" to have the lights on, according to Helen.

Suddenly, panic washes over the young girl. She's trapped. She's not in juvie, but she's still trapped with no way out. She's trapped in a foster home. She's quite literally _trapped_ in the foster system right now. She shrinks a little as the thoughts speed through her mind. She wants out. Out, out, out.

Just as she's thinking to herself, _Please hurry,_ the faint sound of a firm knock that can only belong to Stef is heard. Callie's eyes snap toward her locked door, then the wall, then her phone. She barely registers the fact that her vision is blurry with tears as she types out a text to Stef.

'_She's asleep and she's a very heavy sleeper. She won't hear you.'_ She hits send and brings her finger to her nose, rubbing the bridge of it as she tries to calm her racing mind. Mom's here. She'll be out soon.

A quiet bubble-pop sound echoes in the room. Callie reads the text and almost succumbs to her panic.

'_Can you come to the door then, love?'_

Callie feels herself shaking her head, as if her mom can see her. She's trapped. She can't. '_No. She has me locked in a room, mom.'_ Her fingers are shaking and she barely is able to send the message without creating a typo. Exactly three seconds pass before there's more pounding on the door, much louder than last time.

"SDPD, open up!" Stef rarely uses rank to get in someone's home outside of work; says it because she doesn't want to become entitled. Callie can hear stirring and sighs lightly.

'_I heard something from her room. Try calling her,' _

The house phone rings and Callie holds her breath as creaking echos through the thin wall. Helen's voice is muffled as she answers the phone. Steps can be heard leaving the room and descending the stairs. The moment the front door is open, Stef pushes her way into the house, the social worker right behind her.

"Where is my daughter?!" Callie emits a sob when she hears Stef's voice. Something about being referred to as "my daughter" rather than "Callie" makes her feel safe and loved. She hears feet stampeding up the stairs and jolts up from the bed, backing away further from the door.

It's dark in here. It's so dark. Callie wraps her arms around herself as someone knocks on the bedroom door.

"Callie?"

"Mom?" Callie calls out, tears falling from her eyes freely now. She's here. "Mom," she repeats, letting her fear filter through her voice. _Get me out of here._

"Unlock this door, Helen." It takes Callie a second to remember the voice. It's the social worker that came to take her away from home.

There's the sound of jingling keys and of the lock clicking before Stef is forcing her way into the room. Her eyes adjust to the dark right away and she finds her daughter.

When Callie initially feels hands on her, she jolts and pushes herself away until Stef's voice breaks through her anxiety-riddled haze.

"It's me, baby. It's mom." Callie's hands find their way to the woman's waist and she wraps her arms around her mother, holding onto her tightly and burying her head in her shoulder. This darkness isn't scary. It's a different kind of darkness.

Stef takes a moment to inspect the room that Callie was locked in. It's pitch dark and the windows are boarded up as well as the door having been locked. She has half a mind to arrest Helen right now. Nevertheless, she focuses her attention on her child.

"You're alright, baby. Momma's got you. I'm here." After a little bit of coaxing, Stef helps her daughter out of the room, grabbing the teen's duffel bag on the way out. Once they exit the room, Callie hides her face in her mom's shoulder once more, unable to handle the sudden onslaught on light as the social worker flips on the hallway light.

Stef fixes Helen with a glare as she keeps an arm around her daughter. "How dare you lock her up?" Fiery rage pumps through her veins as she eyes this woman who had the audacity to treat her daughter like she was a dangerous animal.

Helen scoffs and gestures vaguely toward the room. "She wasn't ever in any danger! She was safe!"

"Oh, as if!" Stef bellows as she turns to face the social worker, her eyes dark and stormy. "I want this woman's license taken away," she orders in a gravelly voice, daring the worker to argue. Thankfully, she nods fervently.

"Of course. We'll be investigating-"

"You won't find anything," Helen huffs, puffing her chest out. "I have a perfect record with my kids." Her pridefulness makes Stef want to slap her across the face. She sounds so arrogant and justified.

"She's not your kid. She's mine. And no one locks my kid in a room." A thought pops into Stef's head and she steps forward, letting go of Callie momentarily who has since adjusted to the light, but is still quiet as a mouse. "In fact, if I find out you are continuing to foster kids and lock them up, I will arrest you." Being a foster parent and a cop has made her _very _sensitive to cases involving the mistreat of children. Especially foster children.

Stef feels a tug on her sleeve and turns around to see Callie wearing an apprehensive look and eyes locking onto hers.

"Can we go?" she whispers, almost as if she's scared Helen will hear and get mad. "I just..I wanna go home," she says, the exhaustion finally creeping up on her.

Stef smiles sadly and nods, wrapping her arm around her daughter once more. "Of course, bug." She leads her downstairs just as Helen yells to them in a last-ditch attempt to save her license to foster.

"Your daughter's a delinquent! I didn't do anything wrong!" Callie flinches at both the volume of Helen's voice and the words being said. When will people stop seeing her as a pile of papers? Stef quickens her pace and practically drags Callie outside and to their car. There's another car besides Helen's. Callie assumes it's the social worker's.

Once they're in the car and on their way home, Stef moves to comfort Callie. "You know that what she said isn't right?" The fury is still pumping through her veins. At this point, it's probably adrenaline.

Callie blinks a few times and nods, looking over at her mother. She knows she's so much more than the mistakes she's made. But it's hard to move on when those mistakes result in charges and a record that's constantly hanging over her head. "I know," she says quietly, eyes darting back to her lap after checking the time. 9pm. Usually, she'd still be wide awake, but right now, she's completely exhausted. She rubs her eyes and looks out the window.

She thinks back to the room; to how dark and small it was. It felt like a juvie cell, boarded windows and everything. Right down to the crappy food and the early "bed time." The thought makes a shiver run down her spine. She wasn't in juvie. She was just in a locked bedroom that happened to resemble a cell quite well. Tears prick at the corners of her eyes and she blinks them away.

Stef glances over at Callie then back at the road. She lets go of the steering wheel with one hand and grabs onto Callie's hand, holding onto it tightly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Callie chances a glance at her mother before shaking her head. "Not right now. When we get home." _Home._ And people say that 'love' is the strongest four-letter word in the universe. "I just want mama to be with us," she says in the way of an explanation. She has a feeling that talking about it is going to result in hugs and cuddles that cannot be given while driving.

Stef nods and squeezes Callie's hand. "That's perfectly fine, love." She rubs her thumb over the back of the teen's hand. "When you're ready." Callie smiles slightly and squeezes back, silently thanking her mother for the comfort.

When they're five minutes away from home, Callie finds herself talking about being in that room. "It felt like I was back in juvie," she blurts out, briefly startling Stef, who peeks over at her daughter and looking back at the road.

She reaches over once more to grasp Callie's hand. "You're out of there now, my love." She can't imagine what that would feel like, being isolated in a dark room with the door locked and no way to see outside. "I'm right here with you."

For the rest of the drive, Stef does not let go of Callie's hand. It keeps Callie's breathing level and stops her mind from racing. She's not alone, she's with her mom. She's not in a dark room, she's in a car on her way home.

Moments later, Stef pulls into the driveway of the Foster household. The lights are still on, giving the house a warm glow. Helen's house was dark and cold. Callie gets out of the car and gets her duffle bag from the backseat, slinging it over her shoulder and shutting the car door.

She ignores the tell-tale swooping of her stomach and follows her mother inside, stepping in before her as always. Stef is always the last one to enter the house. When the door closes, she exhales in relief. She's home. She's safe. She's not at Helen's nor is she at juvie. _So why does it feel like I'm about to go back?_ Her stomach swoops again.

Lena emerges from the kitchen, and Callie almost cries. Lena's presence is so warm and calm. You immediately feel safe and warm around her. The gentle smile on her face and the glimmer in her eyes adds onto it. Callie drops her duffle bag as Lena reaches her, accepting the hug her mama offers without hesitation.

When Lena feels Callie's arm wrap around her unusually tight, she returns the tight embrace and gives her wife a concerned look over her daughter's shoulder. The look she gets back says, 'We'll talk about it later.'

Callie can feel the tears threatening to well up, but refuses to let herself cry. Not right now. She feels Lena's lips at her ear.

"Hey, bug. You hungry?"

Is she hungry? Not particularly. But she hasn't eaten since the social worker came by to take her away, so she should try to eat. Callie nods minutely, biting back the whimper when Lena breaks the hug and resisting every urge to pull her back.

"Where uh…" She's starting to find it hard to speak. _No, not now._ "Where are the others?"

Lena smiles once more and gestures up the stairs. "Up in their rooms. We wanted you coming back to be a surprise."

Callie nods and grabs her duffle bag, making her way up the stairs without another word.

When she enters her room, Mariana leaps off her bed and hugs her tight enough to cut off circulation. "You're back!" she exclaims, pulling away. "Guys, she's back!"

Callie can hear the sound of rushed footsteps seconds before she wrapped in a group hug by her other siblings. She feels herself grinning and laughing, She's only been gone for a few hours but they're treating her like she's a soldier that's been gone for months. That's one of the amazing things about this family.

When the group hug breaks, she moves to wrap her arms around Jude, who returns the hug without hesitation.

"Told you I'd be back before you know it," she quips, giving her little brother a smile. They break the hug and Callie all but tosses her duffle bag beside her bed, not wanting to be touching that thing anymore tonight.

One hour later, Callie's stomach is full of her favorite meal and it is time to go to bed. Just as she exits the bathroom, the moms enter the girls' bedroom.

"We just came in to say goodnight," Stef says as Callie walks to her bed and sits down, eyes drifting over to her duffle bag, then to the door that her mom is leaning up against. When they leave, that door is going to close, and she's going to be drowned in darkness once more.

_No,_ her inner voice barks. _You're home. You're in your room. The door won't be locked and you can still see out the windows._ Apparently, she's been staring at the door too long because she catches mama's attention.

"You alright, bug?" She asks softly, tilting her head to the side a little.

Callie's eyes snap to hers, and she pointedly ignores Stef's knowing look and Mariana's concerned one. "Um, yeah. Just spacing out. I'm really tired," she tries to play off with a laugh.

Stef catches Callie eye and gives her an encouraging smile. "Well, we'll let you two get to sleep now. Remember that our door is always open if you need anything." That 'reminder' was for her, Callie knows it.

Mariana nods, still somewhat oblivious to what's going on, nods. "We know. Goodnight, moms."

"Goodnight, babies." With that, the moms leave the girls' bedroom and head to their own. Once they've closed the door, Callie gets into her bed and turns so her back is facing Mariana, not giving her a chance to talk to her.

She can already feel her stomach swooping and dropping. It's harder to get deep breaths in now. Her mind is racing.

_Jail bird._

_Juvie girl. _

"_She's a delinquent!"_

_Locked doors, boarded windows. Couldn't see around her. Couldn't see outside. _

She doesn't realize she's crying until she feels a small water droplet on her hand. She closes her eyes, tries to get rid of the intrusive thoughts.

_She's in a dark room, but it's her room. _

_The door is closed, but it's not locked. _

_She's in this dark room, but her sister is with her. _

_She's home. She's safe. _

She sits up quietly, breathing in and out shakily and rubbing her face with her hand. It's not working. She looks over to Mariana's bed. The girl is already sleeping, and doesn't seem to have been woken up.

She climbs out of her bed and exits the room, walking through the bathroom instead of opening the door and risking waking her sister. She can see that the lights are still on in her moms' room. They're still awake.

She's suddenly hit with a wave of doubt. Should she bother them? They've been busy all day with work and then trying to get her home. She's home. She's safe. She should go back to her room. She's about to turn around and go back to her room, when her foot steps on one of the creaky floorboards.

"Is someone out there?"

Callie squeezes her eyes shut and internally curses to herself. Now there's no escaping. She hears the bed creaking, as if someone is getting out. Seconds later, Stef emerges from her and Lena's room as she opens her eyes.

"Callie? What are you doing, love?" Her mom's voice holds no judgement.

Callie opens and closes her mouth a few times, trying to find a decent answer, because '_I keep thinking that I'm in juvie or that I'm going back to juvie so I can't sleep and I wanted to sleep with my moms,'_ won't suit.

After five seconds with no answer from her daughter, Stef tries again. "Callie bug?"

The love and concern Stef's voice carries does it for Callie. Tears well up in her eyes and begin trickling down her face.

_Jail bird...Juvie girl...Delinquent…_

_Locked doors, boarded windows. Can't see out. Can't see around. Too dark. _

_All alone. Confined. Solitude._

"I.." is all she can get out as the words 'solitary confinement' run laps in her mind. Her stomach is swooping again and she can't breathe in. _Alone alone alone. You're all alone, little girl._

_Little girl. "No one is coming to save you, little girl." William said as the belt cracked down onto my back once more. _

She doesn't hear her mom calling her name nor does she hear mama coming out of the room. She's being pulled gently into the master bedroom. She feels a soft mattress underneath her and hears soft voices calling to her.

"_Mommy, help me!" I cry as William beats on me. It's only been two months. I want to die. _

_Mommy, help…_

_Mommy…_

_Mom…_

_Stef is mom. _

"We're here, baby."

_That's her. That's her voice. Those are also her fingers carding through my hair._

"Come back to us, love."

_Mama.._

"M..Mama?" Her voice is hoarse as if she had just screamed for two hours straight. Her cheeks are wet. Her vision clears and the blurry shape of Lena focuses. She's kneeling down in front of her and Stef is next to her.

Lena reaches up and cups Callie's cheek in her hand. "Hey, sweet thing."

Tears blur Callie's vision once more and stream down her face. Lena tuts sympathetically and wipes them away using the pads of her thumbs.

"We're here, baby. We've got you." As a response, she feels arms tighten around her. Callie moves her gaze to her left and sees her mom, who gives her a sad smile.

"That was a tough one, huh?"

Callie only nods, breathing in shakily. Her head is still really hazy so words aren't really working in her favor right now.

Stef hums and brushes some loose curls from Callie's face then grabs her hand. "Do you wanna talk about it?" she whispers softly as Lena moves so she's sitting on Callie's right side.

_Yes!_ she wants to scream. _Yes, I wanna talk about it! _But she can't because it's hard to talk right now.

Stef seems to see the turmoil in her daughter's eyes and hums. "Is it hard to talk right now?" Realization dawns on Lena's face, which then morphs into one of sympathy and sadness.

Callie nods fervently, tears building up once more. _I'm sorry!_

Stef is quick to comfort her daughter, not wanting her daughter to feel bad about her anxiety attack or the aftermath. "It's okay, baby. You're alright." She watches as Callie blinks a few times, getting rid of the tears. "Do you just wanna sleep?"

Callie ponders this. _Does _she want to sleep? Well, she's definitely exhausted. But can she sleep? She still feels jittery and unsafe. She's scared that when the lights go out, the thoughts will come back.

This time, Lena speaks up. "You can stay in here with us. We'll be right there next to you."

Callie gives her mama a sad smile. She knows this, but she's scared about the lights, and the door. Helen's was so dark and isolated.

Lena seems to be in deep thought for a few seconds, then gets up. She rummages through her nightstand, returning seconds with a notepad and a pen. She hands the items to Callie, who takes them with shaky hands.

"Just write what you can't say." Callie vaguely hears Stef say, "Good thinking" as she uncaps the pen and begins to write.

'Lights will be off and the door will be shut. Don't know if I can sleep.' She hands it to Lena, who reads it, only to grow more confused. She hands the notepad to Stef, who also reads it and immediately understands.

"Can I tell her, love?"

Callie nods, her gazy moving to her lap as she twiddles her thumbs.

Stef sets the notepad down on her nightstand and looks at Lena, her gaze softening at how confused and concerned her wife is. "The woman she was staying with," She refuses to refer to her as a foster mother. "had Callie locked away in a dark room." Just explaining it to her wife makes her angry again.

Lena's face crumbles into despair and anger as everything suddenly clicks. "Oh, honey," she croons as she reaches for Callie's hand, squeezing it tightly. "Will it help if we kept the door open a little and had the hallway light on?"

Callie nods minutely, sniffling as she rubs the bridge of her nose with her finger. She's totally acting like a baby right now, but she can't bring herself to stop or care.

As Lena gets up to go into the hallway and flick on the light, Stef tries for a joke. "Now I have to sleep with the light on," she huffs out playfully, grinning when it draws a small giggle from her eldest daughter.

When Lena returns, the trio gets comfortable in bed, Callie situated between her moms. It's a little crowded, but the close proximity of her mothers makes Callie feels safe. The bedroom door is open ajar and she can see the light from the hallway trickling into the room.

She turns so she's facing Stef, who smiles and brushes some of Callie's hair out of her face. Callie's eyes flutter shut, then open seconds later. She still scared to fall asleep. _Why?_

"Go to sleep, baby. It's alright."

She feels Lena's arm wrap around her from behind. Between mom's soothing voice and mama's arm around her, she can't resist it when her eyes close once more.

_It's okay now. You're home. Mom and Mama are right beside you. You're safe._

And with that, Callie succumbs to the exhaustion eating away at her.


End file.
